An under-explored benefit of the CTC was an immediate improvement in mental well-being, most especially for families experiencing financial precarity.

"We’re witnessing a flood of stories condemning gender discrimination in the workplace. But bias against mothers remains casual and unapologetic."

Mothering, like all parenting, is work. If anyone was unaware of this fact before the pandemic, 18 months of watching moms nearly drown under the weight of the effort has driven the point home.

As we near the first anniversary of the Covid shutdowns we put faces to these large, faceless statistics. These are the stories of five mothers with young children who have been laid off, pushed out, unable to find work – battling circumstances far beyond their control as they work to keep their families afloat.

“Now more than ever, the media feeds our worst beliefs about working motherhood.”

“It turns out there is indeed something scarier than being told to stay in your house as much as possible: being tasked to make all of our own risk calculations and decisions about a pandemic that’s still far from under control.”

“Mothers are right to be feeling some pretty intense emotions about the hand we’re dealt. But instead of bonding together in righteous fury, I hear a lot more talk about “mom guilt.”

"To keep mothers sane and in the workforce ... we need a much larger public policy solution ― such as a new national 'CareCorps.'"

"I believe telling mothers to raise their hands and try harder in the open sea of hostility we face in the workplace is like handing a rubber ducky to someone hit by a tsunami."